Main » Chris Watts: Dad admits to killing family to avoid death penalty

Chris Watts: Dad admits to killing family to avoid death penalty

07 November 2018

Rourke said he had detailed conversations with Shanann Watts' family after Christopher Watts' attorney approached him about a possible deal. He pleaded guilty to all nine charges against him.

Chris Watts and his attorneys have reached a plea deal in the highly-watched murder case out of Frederick.

Watts reported his wife and their girls, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste, missing August 13 from their home in Frederick, a town about 30 miles north of Denver.

However, in a second interview with police, Watts told police he looked at the baby monitor screen and saw Shanann strangling their daughter Celeste and that he saw their older daughter, Bella, blue and "sprawled" out on her bed, according to the affidavit.

The girls' bodies were found in oil barrels and Shanann's body was found in a shallow grave nearby. He then went on TV to feign ignorance of their whereabouts and made a passionate plea for them to return home.

Christopher Watts is in court for his arraignment hearing at the Weld County Courthouse on August 21, 2018 in Greeley, Colorado. Watts has claimed Shanann had killed one daughter and was actively trying to kill the other when he attacked her in an act of passion, CBS Denver reported. Rourke said that when the Rzuceks asked about the state of the death penalty in Colorado, he explained the potential difficulties and likely delays that would accompany that route.

'That to me was the most important consideration in deciding how to proceed in this a case.

As part of the sentencing agreement, Watts will spend the rest of his life in prison for the first-degree murder charges.

"I know that will never be fully realized because, obviously, the tragedy that sits before us today is the loss of four attractive lives".

Shannan Watts, 34, and her daughters Bella and Celeste (pictured) were found dead on a property owned by Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

"I was not willing to entertain any further concessions above and beyond removing the death penalty", he said. But he told police that he strangled her in "a rage" when he discovered she had strangled their two daughters after he sought a separation.